On the first Monday of every month, we take on a ‘mission’ – a shift or habit or inspiration – to work on together. There’s strength (and support) in numbers! On the last Thursday of the month, we reconvene to see how far we’ve come.
#16
Happy New Year!
What’s your plan for seizing 2011 and making it yours? You know, it’s positioned to be the best year of your life. So how are you going to dive in and dance? What are you doing to manifest the best version of yourself? How will you live your truth out loud in 2011?
Each year I set intentions for the 365 days ahead. I’ve done this for the past three years – before that I was an “anti-resolution” sort of person. But the problem with resolutions is that they tend to be too vague . . . people say things like “I’ll lose weight” or “I’ll find a meaningful relationship”. If you’re going to make your life exactly what you want it to be – and you can! – then you’re going to need a clear strategy. You’ll need measurable benchmarks and you’ll need to be specific.
Draw up a plan of attack. Yes, attack. Be a happiness warrior. Be proactive! Me, I like to make lists . . .
Each year in December I begin a new Word doc. I title it with the upcoming year (so this one was ‘2011’) and it lives on my desktop for 365 days. In this word doc I’ll formulate my action plan. I’ll draft a list of ambitious, achievable goals. I’ll jot down general themes that I’d like to incorporate. I keep a running list of every book I read, and each year I try to read more than the one before (always successful as long as I’ve been tracking!) Under the current year’s goals, I’ll copy-and-paste the previous doc, which also includes copy-and-pastes from the years before. This way I can scroll through and see my growth in the bigger picture. A running list of my personal development. It’s very encouraging! Revisiting success always motivates me to keep striving.
More often than not the doc is topped with some short phrase to sum up my approach to the coming year. For example, 2009 was entitled “Living The Dream” and included such goals as “get pregnant” and “never get a ‘real’ job”. And for 2011?
Quality Over Quantity
I’ve spent pretty much my entire adult life prioritizing productivity – measuring myself in terms of ‘success’ and forgoing pleasure in favor of purpose. Now it’s certainly good to be driven, and I’d much rather be a doer than a talk-about-doing-er. But I think it’s unhealthy to focus so much on compiling accomplishments. It can come at a cost. For me, it has.
So 2011 is all about enjoying my life. For once, I’m in it for the fun of it. It’s not what get’s done, but how the getting done is *experienced*. And less will get done . . . (that’s okay!)
I’m giving it a year. It kind of goes against everything I’ve trained myself to be . . . but I’m going to give it an honest go. We’ll see where it gets me in 365 days. I can always go back to my high-powered production in 2012!
I’ve got an assortment of bullet-pointed action items to guide me into my new modus operandi. YOUR mission, should you choose to accept it, is to do the same. Set a theme for 2011 and then outline some specific goals to get you there.
As a side note, I may be going a little lighter on the blogging in the coming year. I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE! But, I need to take some pressure off of myself. So instead of spending my nights working until midnight, I may just take a bubble bath instead. I do hope you know how much this site means to me; I hope you’ll understand and I hope you’ll continue on with me in the new year and beyond.
Oh, There’s No Place Like Home For The Holidays . . . Oi there! It’s Friday again, how did that happen? Somehow this week totally got away from me. Amidst holidays and travel and family and general adventuring, I’ve been a busy busy Bonzai. I finally made it back to Portland laaaate late Wednesday night. [...]
Sucking down coffee while playing with Waits on the airport floor, early o’clock. It’s not too hard to find vegan food while traveling, but finding good vegan food . . . well, that’s another matter altogether. Leave it up to the fates and you’re at the will and whim of the airport – or worse [...]
My auntie made us get this picture taken and I was all, “bitch bitch, grinch grinch, scrooooge” until I saw it, at which point I cooed, “Awwwwwww!” Le Love List: 1. Waits sleeping through an entire flight from just after takeoff and right on through landing. Yes please! 2. vegan gingerbread truffles 3. Getting bit [...]
You know you’re crunchy when you tuck your overnight oats to bed in between your oatstraw infusion (left) and your homemade kombucha (right). You know what I adore? Nut butters! Mmmm, yeah. But you know what sucks? That inevitable end-of-the-jar, desperate-attempt-to-get-every-last-lick-out-so-as-not-to-waste-one-single-molecule of the delicious goodness. A girl could drive herself crazy just scraping away . [...]
